General Motors will invest $600 million in its Fairfax Assembly and Stamping Plant in Kansas City, Kan., to build a new paint facility and install a huge machine that will take raw metal and stamp structural reinforcements for vehicle body frames. The automaker said it is one of largest single investments in a factory that it has made. GM produces mid- and full-size sedans at the factory including the Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse. The investment represents the largest single project for the $1.5 billion GM said it plans to spend on factories in North America this year.

IncuVest, a New York-based developer of technology companies, has made a $5-million investment in Ethentica Inc., a Lake Forest provider of electronic authentication products, the companies said Monday. The investment was in preferred stock.

With city budget managers intent on limiting new spending and reining in employee benefits, a coalition of union and political groups is fighting back with a report that suggests Los Angeles City Hall is spending too much on Wall Street and not enough on Main Street. The Fix L.A. Coalition, which is made up of union and liberal political groups, plans to release a report Tuesday that suggests the city could substantially reduce the $204 million in bank and money management fees that it paid last year to Wall Street firms.

German chemical maker Bayer has dropped plans to build a $1.48-billion plant in Taiwan, but the island nation said it is expecting other overseas companies to invest $1.5 billion next year. U.S., French, Swiss and German firms are planning up to 11 large investments, the Economics Ministry said. It said details would remain confidential until deals were signed. Bayer's announcement Friday came after 18 months of delays and a county-government decision to subject the plant to a public referendum.

Daewoo Corp. said it will increase its investment in Poland to up to $2.2 billion by 2001 and double its planned car production to 550,000 a year. Under Daewoo's previous plan, the South Korean company was to invest $1.5 billion in Poland. "We are proving we are not only able to keep our promise, we are making efforts to go much further than the promise," J.C. Suk, president of Daewoo's car venture in Poland, Daewoo-FSO, said at a news conference.

Hong Kong movie company Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment has made a minority investment of $25 million in Legendary Pictures in a deal that will enable the Hollywood film financing and production company to move into the Chinese market. Founded in 1970, Orange Sky has produced and financed more than 600 movies and operates 29 multiplexes with 229 screens in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. In a regulatory filing, the company said it made the strategic alliance, which gives it 3.3% of Legendary's common stock, to explore opportunities to co-produce local language films and produce video games.

Torrance officials disclosed Monday that a $1-million investment has been deemed illegal by city attorneys, adding to the financial woes of a city already stung by the disappearance of $6.2 million in another investment. The $1-million investment in an insured loan program known as American Insured Mortgage Investors-88 was made four years ago by Torrance Treasurer Thomas C. Rupert, who has repeatedly defended the investment as sound and legal.

A 194,000-square-foot industrial building at 10511 Valley Blvd., El Monte, has been purchased as an investment by Cal Fed Syndications of Los Angeles for $5.8 million. The transaction was negotiated by the Seeley Co. for the buyer and the seller, the 10511 Valley Partnership.

IAT ReInsurance Syndicate Ltd. increased its stake in NeoTherapeutics Inc. to about 13% by acquiring 1.25 million shares of the Irvine pharmaceutical company and 125 warrants at an exercise price of $5 per share, NeoTherapeutics said. The company said it raised about $5 million through the transaction.